This photo taken by the Kansas Air National Guard shows the home of Scott and Danielle Tajchman north of Hutchinson. Danielle Tajchman said two volunteer Riley County firefighters helped save the house. Kansas Air National GuardCourtesy

This photo taken by the Kansas Air National Guard shows the home of Scott and Danielle Tajchman north of Hutchinson. Danielle Tajchman said two volunteer Riley County firefighters helped save the house. Kansas Air National GuardCourtesy

Heroic firefighters saved her home, survivor says

After her home north of Hutchinson escaped destruction by only a few narrow feet in Monday’s wildfire, Danielle Tajchman joked that her pet cows had saved it.

After all, Scott and Danielle Tajchman had been heavily watering their lawn before the fire because their two pet cows had developed a taste for lawn grass.

In helicopter photos taken the day after the fire, the Tajchman home stands unburned in a tiny island of green grass, surrounded by acres of blackened land.

But after the Tajchmans returned home, they learned more about what happened after they ran with their five children from the flames on Monday.

Two firefighters raced up to her home only minutes after the Tajchmans evacuated, Danielle Tajchman said.

They fought the fire on the Tajchman front lawn, with the wind howling, battling flames that leaped high.

God blessed us in the form of two Riley County firemen.

Danielle Tajchman, Hutchinson wildfire survivor

“We did not leave our house until 7:15 p.m. (Monday) and the video sent to us by a neighbor of our property burning was taken at 7:30 p.m.,” Tajchman wrote in an e-mail on Saturday.

“During that 15 minutes, God blessed us in the form of two Riley County firemen who showed up, made sure no one was in the home and then proceeded to soak everything they could in more water.

“Just as they ran out of water, the fire reached our back shed and they had to leave,” she wrote. “Upon reaching the end of our driveway, they set a back-burn in an attempt to stop the fire, which was successful for five minutes before jumping the road north of us.”

The firefighters involved later contacted Tajchman on Facebook and sent video.

“In a video he sent me, taken at the end of our driveway, you can hear , ‘Trying to save this house; I think it’s a goner.’

We have been able to personally thank the men that saved our home.

Danielle Tajchman, Hutchinson wildfire survivor

“However, by a miracle and their hard work they were able to do just that,” her e-mail continued.

“So sure, our silly cows and our wet lawn helped, but these two are the real heroes to whom we will be forever grateful.

“We have been able to personally thank the men that saved our home (and cows and baby chicks).

“There are no right or good enough words I or anyone else can use to express the extreme amount of gratitude for their hard work and everything they have done to save not only our home but the tens of other ones that would not be standing otherwise,” Tajchman wrote.

In a telephone interview on Saturday, Tajchman said she knows the name of one of the Riley County firefighters. She said he’s a young volunteer firefighter who is attending school in Manhattan.

He told her he didn’t want to be identified because he didn’t fight the fire to gain recognition, Tajchman said.